Cooking Gas Export Ban Crashed Domestic Price – Marketers

Cooking gas export ban crashed domestic price – Marketers

By Chioma Chimamanda

The Federal Government’s ban on the export of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, has led to a crash in the cost of the commodity from about N1,500 per kilogram to around N900/kg, LPG dealers stated on Wednesday.

Cooking gas dealers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers disclosed this during a courtesy visit on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, in Abuja.

On February 22, 2024, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government banned the exportation of LPG in a bid to increase its volume domestically to warrant a crash in price.

It stated at the time that LPG producers in Nigeria and key stakeholders in the industry had been told to stop exporting the commodity out of Nigeria, following the jump in the cost of cooking gas.

Speaking at the meeting with the gas minister on Wednesday in Abuja, the National President, NALPGAM, Oladapo Olatunbosun, commended Ekpo for the courage in ordering the domestication of all LPG produced within the country, stressing that the policy resulted in the reduction and stabilisation of the product’s price in the domestic market.

Olatunbosun, in a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Louis Ibah, recalled that during a stakeholders consultative forum in Abuja in February this year,  the association had drawn the minister’s attention to the fact that some international oil companies  operating in Nigeria had been exporting huge volumes of gas.

He had pointed out that if these volumes were to be available for the domestic market, there would be no need to import LPG at exorbitant rates as the product would be available and there would be price stability in the local market.

The NALPGAM president thanked the Federal Government for heeding to their plea, as the government’s intervention made the price of LPG that was sold fo N20m per 20 metric tonnes reduced to N15m.

And at the retail end, there is a corresponding decrease from N1,400 – N1,500 per kilogram to between N900 – N1,000 per kilogram, according to the gas marketer, as contained in the statement.

Olatunbosun was quoted as saying, “We appreciate the fact that at the parley with us you (Ekpo) promised that the issue of exporting LPG in the face of inadequate supply and soar in prices will be addressed, and indeed you have taken steps to walk the talk.

“Today we say thank you because the ban on LPG export has made a lot of changes in the market and consumers can testify to this.

In his response, Ekpo decried the situation where Nigeria, a major gas producer, was ranked among countries with the lowest consumers of the product.

He assured his guests of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment in deepening the penetration of gas across the country.